April Showers Bring May Air Force 1s.

Uptowns baby, uptowns baby...

It was a long winter. But the hibernation is finally over and look at what the nice weather has brought us. On some ninja shit, these joints tip-toed into the stockroom and nobody knew. No sites, no blogs, no forums, no internets- nothing. On Thursday I was told to hit 21 Mercer on Saturday and that was it. I was able to get a little more info and a peek at one of the supposed releases and my interests were piqued.



What we have here are 2 treats, both exclusive to 21 Mercer. The light grey pair was what got me open. Only thing was that the pair I saw was a dark gray, closer to graphite with the ice sole. Shits are so mean. Instead a metallic platinum/matte silver pair was released, style # 381663 001. These are a rare treat and actually the try on pairs for the Air Force 1 Low Premium MX ID, the newest version of the Air Force 1 ID. The try on air force pairs are always a shade of gray and always dope.



This newest version of the IDs have a supreme air force sole, meaning a visible air bubble. There has always been one, thus the "AIR" in air force 1, but until recently it was tucked away. Now you're able to create a sneaker with that sole. The IDs retail for $300, but don't worry, I didn't pay that much. All they cost me was some donuts, not just any donuts. Doughnut Plant donuts. And the Blackout joint. Fucking incredible. Words can't express the greatness. That's the new shit- donuts for kicks. Barter (batter) makes the world go round.



The quality is next galaxy. Creamy soft leather with a suede swoosh and heel tab and the ill sole. Simple. I'd compare them to a a really basic pasta dish with great ingredients. Home made pasta, some fresh mushrooms and a little butter from a local cow named Betty topped with some freshly grated parmigiano reggiano. Capiche? I'm going to call these shits my tagliatelle con funghis. So Italian.




The next joints are part of the Nike 1World series, "18 global influencers harking from the fields of sport, design, music, art and fashion. Each one a visionary. Each one a lifelong devotee to the Air Force 1." That comment is a bit of a stretch but until I'm a 1Worlder I can't say shit. Remember these?

Rio Ferdinand of Manchester United designed these and I have to admit, he did his thing. Again, really simple, but the little touches here and there make these shits say uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- Nah nah nah nah. Several gold swoosh on white air forces have been released over the past couple of years but the quality was terrible and they didn't validate a purchase. Not true- I copped the 25th anniversary pair but never wore it so does that count? If a sneaker is purchased but never worn and then sold- was it really part of the lineup? I think not.



Like the ID samples, these are on some next level quality. Premium leather sitting on an opaque ice sole. The air unit is visible if you look hard enough. The ice sole raises a red flag as it has the potential to turn piss yellow, but time will tell. The box labels are getting really confusing. No longer does it just say "Air Force 1." As the pair above has to be deciphered, so do these. Air Force 1 Low Sprm INFL6. Sprm being Supreme and INFL6 being Influencer. Not sure why the number 6. Colorway is white/metallic gold- university blue, style # 352633 171. That's another thing, why are there so many different style numbers- the first 6 digits- for air force 1 lows? Whatever.



The toebox, side panels and heel tab have crocodile textured leather and it should be noted that at all seams the leather is pleated, showing no stitch. I don't really dig that look as it makes the back and toe panel appear puffy, but I'll ride with it for now. The eyestay has gold stitching which works real well, and the tongue label is baby blue with gold letters. Baby blue and gold is a win. UCLA, Minneapolis Lakers, Nuggets, etc.



On the right foot a "V" is stitched on the heel tab and on the left a "5" is. For some reason I've always dug the intricacies such as heel tab, ankle and insole graphics, especially stitching. The dubrae on the right foot reads LF-1 06 while the left foot reads TF-1 08. No clue.



The insole reads:

"IF...."I got to play just 1 minute of professional football, I would die a happy man!"

Rio Ferdinand

Not that it really matters who Rio Ferdinand is, because I would have copped anyway, but he's highly celebrated as the centre back for Manchester United and a member of the England national team. Since Man U is sort of like the Yankees in terms of dominance and he's the stand-in captain for the team and he's of mixed descent, he's kind of like Jeter. Rio, if you're reading this, you should be extremely flattered.